


New Year, New Surprises

by Oddly_terrifying_squiggle



Category: Hamilton - Miranda
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Fluff, It's just cause John is in the hospital cuz he got shot but it's not graphic at all, Kissing, Love Confessions, M/M, Minor Violence, New Years, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, literally everyone is happy it's great, tacky outfits
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-01
Updated: 2020-01-01
Packaged: 2021-02-27 07:41:00
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,741
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22073410
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Oddly_terrifying_squiggle/pseuds/Oddly_terrifying_squiggle
Summary: John stared out at the vibrant city lights and the crowds of partying people on the streets from the sizeable window to his left. It all looked so lively and colourful. He wished he could be there, drinking with his friends and dancing with all those lights. Hanging out with Alexander. This was so typical of him; the first New Years he was able to spend in the New York and he just had to go and get himself shot and hospitalized through it.
Relationships: Alexander Hamilton/John Laurens, Minor or Background Relationship(s)
Comments: 12
Kudos: 73





	New Year, New Surprises

**Author's Note:**

> Happy New Decade y'all! I hope each and every one of you has an amazing year and that all the good things happen! I love you guys <3

John stared out at the vibrant city lights and the crowds of partying people on the streets from the sizeable window to his left. It all looked so lively and colourful. He wished he could be there, drinking with his friends and dancing with all those lights. Hanging out with Alexander. This was so typical of him; the first New Years he was able to spend in the New York and he just  _had_ to go and get himself shot and hospitalized through it. 

On the bright side, his friends did spent a lot of time with him in the hospital, they even offered to stay with him through the night just so he wouldn’t be alone for his first New York New Years experience. But he refused, told them to go and enjoy without him since he knew that they all had plans to go out on the town, and he didn’t want to burden them. So now he was alone.  _But_ being alone did mean that he got a room all to himself, so that was a win. And he had a little TV in the corner so he could see the festivities and the countdown live. Plus, fireworks freaked him out and he could see them just fine from the hospital room without getting his eardrums blown out.

Still, he wished that Alex was there. 

John had had a plan. A terrible plan, but a plan. He was going to finally confess his feelings for his best friend the second the new year started, and start it off in either the best way he could or horrifyingly wrong. It wasn’t very soundproof, but after years of pining, the overwhelming longing of a relationship with Alex was getting to him. Besides, he knew that if he confessed, Alexander would most likely still be friends with him. Nothing had to change. And if it did, his dreams would only come true. 

A wistful smile crept up onto his face as he let his mind wander, fantasizing about being out there with his friends. Herc and Laf probably had too much to drink already and snuck off to make questionable decisions. Angelica would be dancing with a crowd, and Peggy making bank with her unexpected gambling skills, while Eliza would be worried sick about everyone. Poor Liza, he really should be down there to help. But then again, he probably wouldn’t be such a blessing once he started drinking with Hamilton. He wondered what Alexander was doing. He was probably fighting someone right at that moment. John chuckled, that man didn’t have a single apathetic bone in his body. It was always a wonderful mystery to him how so much passion could fit into such a small stature. It really wasn’t fair how perfect he was.

At some point, John’s thoughts strayed from the partying and he began to shamelessly fantasize about how great it would be to be Alexander’s  _boyfriend_. The man was a romantic, there was no denying it, and John’s heart wrenched at the mere thought of getting a love letter from him. He’d seen what Alexander was capable of, he knew how the words just flowed out of him and onto the paper when he felt so intensely, and Laurens melted at the thought of being the reason for his inspiration. If they were together, he’d get to see that dumb face, that unmatched passion, those eyes every single day. More or less. He’d get the joy of waking up next to him, he’d get to see him be insufferable in the mornings before he had a chance to style his coffee, to curl up with his feet in John’s lap and a good movie or a book.

He sighed, snapping back to the reality that was him sitting up in a hospital bed with a bullet wound in his shoulder, staring out into the huge party on the streets, terribly lonely. The truth was that his plans were soiled, and they would be for a while. He needed his confession to be  _perfect_ , and he figured that this was his best option after chickening out at Christmas. Good God, he was helpless. He just loved Hamilton so much, and he —

Two, maybe three quiet raps on his already open door and a soft “Laurens?” ripped him away from his thoughts. 

“Alexander?” He snapped towards the entrance of the room with a smile, recognizing that voice immediately. He couldn’t believe his eyes, Alexander was standing there, leaning his shoulder against the door frame, with a white plastic bag in one hand, a lot of balloons in the other, and a ridiculous outfit. He had about ten of those plastic bead necklaces, a terribly tacky golden, sparkly fedora with a black ribbon that read 'HAPPY NEW YEAR' in bold letters, a rather fluffy golden feather boa, those '2020' glasses, and huge, very sparkly belt. 

Hamilton gave him a wide grin and took a few steps closer, “Good, you’re still awake.” He said, “Brought you some stuff.”

A thousand or so thoughts flooded his mind, his heart sped up with excitement and he was sure his entire face lit up once his brain processed that Alexander was  _right there with him_. Wait, he was here with him. What was he doing here, there were so many better things to do other than waste his time with John. 

Then, the questions started to spill out of his mouth, “Wait, what are you doing here? Shouldn’t you be out partying with the others? There’s still,” he looked at the clock that was hanging on the wall, “so much time to kill ‘till 12. And how did you get in here? It’s well past visiting hours.”

Hamilton chuckled, “And you say  _I_ can’t shut up.” He rolled his eyes as he placed the balloons down on the floor to John’s right. John let out a small laugh at the jab before Alexander kept talking, “Well, I’m here to spend your big day with you, because I know how excited you were and I’m not about to let you stay here all alone for New Year’s. I’m an asshole, not a monster.” 

“Alex, you didn’t have to come here just because—“ 

Hamilton gave him a stern look, the same one John gave him when he tried to excuse not sleeping for 37 hours, and he shut his mouth. “Laurens, I did have to. I  want to be here. So shut it.” He stated it as if John’s words were completely ridiculous.

John’s smile grew even wider, and his heart melted at his words because Alex wanted to be here with him. He actually wanted to spend his New Years in the hospital room with him instead of out drinking with all those people. His face began to feel a little warm.

Hamilton turned to the balloons again and tried to make them less of a tangled mess, “I  _was_ out with the others, but they’re all bums anyway, so I came back here to have some real fun with you.” His tone got exceedingly more frustrated as the balloons refused to cooperate, “That’s why I brought some stuff for you, can’t have New Year’s without the right look, now can you?” 

John examined the balloons, all of them black and gold with “2020” and some confetti scrawled all over them, along with four huge golden balloons that together showed the number “2020”. This was perfect. Yet, he still felt bad. John hated to be a burden. “Seriously, you should just go back out and enjoy yourself.” He suggested.

Alexander looked straight at him, hands on his hips, “You kickin’ me out?” He scoffed, feigning deep offence, and John couldn’t suppress the laugh that bubbled out of him. He noticed that something in Alexander’s eyes softened, but he didn’t pay much mind to it, “Who the hell do you think you are,  _John_?” He put emphasis on his name, as if to emphasize just how much authority he didn’t have. 

John guessed his hands were tied. “Fine, fine. I’ll let you stay.” 

“As if you have a choice.” Hamilton shot back and shook his head in fake disbelief. He picked the bag back up from the ground and set it on the bed, right on top of John’s legs, and began to rifle through it. A small packet with some white paper in it was pulled out and ripped open with Alexander’s teeth. He threw away the plastic in the small trash can, “I know how much time there is until midnight, you don’t need to tell me. The more time to spend with you,” he opened up the folded paper to reveal a somewhat large banner with bold black letter and more golden confetti that read ‘HAPPY NEW YEAR’, and then looked John in the eyes, his expression inexplicably soft, “the better.” 

The words went into John’s ears, ran a few laps around his brain, circled around his heart, and then squeezed. He was going to be thinking about that for weeks. 

“And, to answer your final question,” Alexander walked over to the window and got on his tippy toes, stretching his arms up to see if he could stick the banner above the window with the tape he also pulled out of the bag, only to shoot John a glare when a snort escaped him. He pulled a chair over and stepped onto it, “did you really think that some measly rules and a few nurses would stop me from visiting you? That’s funny.” 

Laurens guessed he really didn’t, and watched as his best friend got down from the chair, pulled it to the other side of the large window, and climbed back up to finish hanging it. “What did you do?”

Alexander let out a snort, “I yelled at the nurses. They’re mad at me now.” He said a little sheepishly. 

“Oh, Alex,” John sighed and dragged his hand down his face.

“But!” Hamilton jumped down from the chair, “That didn’t stop me and I’m here for as long as I wanna be and that’s all that matters.” He pulled that same chair all the way to the other side of John’s bed for himself but didn’t sit down yet.

“Are you drunk?” John asked in the guise of it being a joke. He just had to know. He couldn’t pull anything if Alex wouldn’t remember it the next morning.

The shorter man waved his hand dismissively, “Barely. Only had, like, half a drink.” 

That was good.

“And you didn’t bring any booze for me?” John asked, feigning hurt at the laugh he got in response. How he loved that laugh. “Alexander Hamilton, you are a horrible, horrible man. I’m in pain, here.” 

“Oh yeah, I’m a monster for not bringing the hospitalized man alcohol. I’m  _so_ sorry.” He shot back sarcastically as he sorted through the bag once more. To be honest, Laurens was excited to see what he would pull out next. “You’re in pain because you almost died,” Alexander looked at him sternly, although there was something a lot more concerned, maybe sad, behind the playful haze in his eyes, “and if you ever do that again, _I_ will kill you. Do you understand me?”

Something warm in his chest spread through him and into his gut. “I thought I was supposed to be the responsible one?” 

Alexander rolled his eyes with a sigh, “You are. And you weren’t. I need to balance this out until you become responsible again.” He shot back, “It shouldn’t take you too long, after all, what was it that you said?” His tone was sarcastic and he looked pointedly at the other man.

John wasn’t able to suppress his giggles at the memory. He had found his dear friend in a bush after losing him in a crowd, and, instead of a ‘thank you’, he got asked how he always knew when Alexander was getting up to some bullshit. “Are you thinking of ‘I have about eight different Hamilton-is-doing-something-stupid senses’, or ‘It’s not that hard to out-responsible a man who just started a street fight with six bikers’?” He asked, very amused.

“I was actually referring to when you said you had more rationality in your left toenail than I did in my entire body, which we both know is a complete lie by the way,” He jeered playfully, “but those all work.” 

“Anyway,” Hamilton then pulled out another hat from the shopping bag, a black tacky top hat adorned with silver stars, the words ‘Happy New Years’ in tasteful cursive, and a yellow sash that was topped off with a bigger silver star in the very front of the hat, “you can’t celebrate without the proper attire, so I thought I’d get you some things. And don’t worry, I kept the fact that you are a classy man in mind.” 

As Hamilton got close and plopped the hat onto the other’s head, John took a long look at his rather unique outfit. “I mean, I can try, but I don’t know if I can pull off the look as well as you can.” It was the usual small flirty remark disguised as a joke that they regularly exchanged, but John really did think Alexander looked perfect. Well, he always looked perfect. 

A ‘pshh’ sound spilled out of Alexander’s lips as he waved his hand dismissively, “Please, you look amazing in anything.” His words were completely serious, and they made John’s heart flutter. He really doubted that was the case at the moment, with his hair a huge curly mess around his head and his white hospital gown that barely covered the bandages on his shoulder, but he always found it hard to not believe his best friend. “I bet you’re the one person in the world who would look hot in one of those banana costume things.”

Both of their laughter filled the room. Oh, how he wanted to hear Alexander’s laugh for the rest of forever. John’s chest was feeling warm inside, and he may have laughed a little too hard, since his shoulder started hurting. He didn’t really care. “And how much did you spend on that,” John signalled vaguely to all of Alexander, “abomination?” 

Hamilton gave him an offended look, “Uh, excuse you, Mr.I-Wear-Crocs-Outside-The-House, I’ll have you know this,” he gestured down his own body with both hands, mocking the other’s action, “is  _clearly _ a fashion statement.  _And _ it cost me less than ten bucks. Honestly, Beyoncé wishes.” 

Laurens, yet again, let out a deep, genuine laugh. Alex always made him so happy, he doubted it was fair. He watched as Hamilton pulled out a cheap New Year’s tie, glasses matching the ones that were perched on his nose, and another feather boa, this time black. No witty remarks were made, his brain only seemed to focus in on the way Alexander’s tongue poked out of his mouth a little. His best friend had a tendency to do that when he concentrated, and the fact that he was so focused on making John look like a tacky masterpiece made John’s heart wring in his chest. His eyes didn’t dare look away from that perfect face that was so close to his as the tie was placed loosely around his neck. John didn’t even notice the small dopey smile that snuck onto his face. 

Hamilton stepped back with a smile, one eye closed, looking at John through a frame he made with his hands, as if admiring his work. This prompted John to strike a pose, much to the other’s amusement. “See, I told you you’d look amazing!” 

“Yeah, well,” He admitted, “I guess you just can’t be wrong.”

“Damn right.” Alexander preened. He reached back into the bag one last time before pulling out two of those cheap party horns that become undone once you use them too much and holding them up with a delighted expression, “Only needs one last touch, though.”

John parted his lips without a second thought once the other man held the small object in front of his mouth. He kept the party horn in his mouth even as he smiled up at Hamilton, his face still close and his hand next to his thigh as he returned the smile, and blew on it. A honk broke through the room as the paper unfurled and gently hit Hamilton straight in the nose. Both of their grins grew wider, Alexander’s eyes crinkled and he bunched up his nose, but he didn’t even flinch or back away. Once the party horn recoiled, they took another minute to chuckle before Hamilton returned the gesture. However, his aim wasn’t as great as John’s, and he got hit on the forehead instead of on the nose. 

Without another word, the shorter of the two backed away and plopped down on the chair that was now beside John’s bed. Alex crossed his arms over the other’s legs and laid his head down on them, looking out of the window and at the dancing lights of the big city. John couldn’t help but stare, looking as ridiculous as he did, the dim light of the hospital room glowing off of him, and the lights reflecting in his eyes. The moment was perfect. Laurens’ fingers twitched with the desire to tug at Alexander’s ponytail until it was lose, to run his fingers through that tangled mess in an attempt to smooth it out. But he restrained himself, bit his lip for a second and leaned back onto the inclined part of his bed before managing to tear his eyes away from the sight before him, deciding that he should distract himself with the sight of festivities in the city. 

At some point, Hamilton started talking about something, which ultimately turned into a much, much different topic. John listened attentively to every word that came out of that beautiful mouth. Hamilton’s brain was a wonderful mess of brilliant chaos and disorder, every thought that came out of him was a surprise, and there were so many of them. It was even better to watch him write. He could listen to him talk all day, though. John would laugh and add pertinent comments here and there, but it was really Alexander who carried the conversation, as usual. John wouldn’t change a thing. He loved to hear all his rants and jokes and angry comments about the people he wanted to fight, which was everyone. And he knew that Hamilton loved talking his ear off, too. Thinking that maybe they were made for each other made John feel warm all over. He was so busy looking out the window that he didn’t even notice the way Hamilton looked at him with what seemed to be complete adoration.

Then, Alexander suddenly shot up from his seat. Laurens was startled until he saw how his best friend looked at him all excited and his heart melted into a useless mushy puddle. 

“Look!” He said, pointing out the window and to one of the screens on the buildings. On it, a number read ‘59’, and one look at the live broadcast on the TV confirmed John’s suspicions. “The countdown is starting!” 

Alexander put the party horn back into his mouth, and John followed suit. They watched the giant crowd of people eagerly from the window, they could even hear the sound effect of a clock ticking. John felt excitement course through his body, from his chest down to his toes, and the remembered his plan. He couldn’t back out of it this time, this was happening, and then hopefully he would finally have the boyfriend he’s wanted for years. The streets quieted down as everyone kept their eyes on the clock. 

Then, you could hear the entire city start to count.

**_ 5! _ **

John and Alex did the same. Really, all that John was mulling over in his head was how he was going to tell his best friend what he had been feeling for such a long time.

**_ 4! _ **

Would Alexander even feel the same way? John truly and fully loved him, what if he got creeped out by that? What if he ruined the friendship that meant so much to him? He couldn’t risk losing Hamilton. 

**_ 3! _ **

No. Alexander would never end their friendship just because romantic feelings weren’t mutual. He was so much better than that, and John should know that. If he confessed, then his fantasies would come true (yes, he knew how cheesy that sounded), and if he didn’t, then nothing would change.

**_ 2! _ **

But maybe nothing had to change. What they had was already perfect. John didn’t want to soil it. But then again, it could get so much better. 

_** 1! ** _

**_ HAPPY NEW YEAR! _ **

Fuck it. 

You could hear the unanimous yell throughout the entire city, only muffled by the hospital walls. Hamilton and Laurens were blowing on their party horns in celebration. They noticed that confetti started raining down on the crowd of people as What a Wonderful World by Louis Armstrong started playing. The fireworks looked absolutely amazing, and their volume was toned down because of the hospital walls, so it made it all the better. And John didn’t know if it was the painkillers, or the excitement, or maybe he just couldn’t bare the pining anymore, or a mix of all of those. But he did know that he had reached out with his good arm, grabbed Hamilton by the collar of his shirt, and pulled him in until their lips met. It happened so fast, both of their eyes grew wide, as if they were equally surprised by what he did. 

Somewhere along the way, they had dropped their party horns, but they were soon forgotten. Yeah, their teeth clashed together, and yeah, his shoulder hurt from the sudden movement, and yeah, both of their lips were extremely chapped, and yeah, he wasn’t even sure how Hamilton would react. But good God, did it feel amazing. John shut his eyes and tilted his head a little to get a better angle, letting go of Alexander’s shirt and resting his hand on his shoulder. It felt so incredibly right to kiss him, and the fireworks in the background just made it all the more magical. It was like a dream.

And yet, he couldn’t even begin to imagine how much better it would be when Hamilton kissed back. His hands had been planted firmly on either side of Laurens so he wouldn’t fall, and now John felt one of those hands on his side. All the tension seemed to melt as Alexander relaxed above him, maybe even let out a content sigh, all the bottled up feelings were finally flying out of both of them. John was convinced his heart exploded with so many different kinds of joy as soon as he felt Alex’s lips press against his in return. 

John pulled away, breathless, still in the same position as the world froze around them. He was sure his face was beet red, and the room felt hot around him. The realization of what he just did hit him when Hamilton brought his hand up and lightly touched his own lips, as if he couldn’t believe that just happened. Suddenly, there was a pit in John’s gut, and he started to spew words out, “I’m so sorry, I just—mph!” 

And he was pulled right back into another kiss by a rather enthusiastic Alexander. He was caught off guard, but his eyes fluttered closed and he kissed back almost instantly. It felt just as amazing as the first, if not better, and was a little more heated than the last one. John’s hand found the back of Alex’s head, knocking his tacky fedora off in the process, and pulled at his ponytail until it was low enough that he could bury his fingers into the other’s hair, trying to pull him as close as possible. They went at each other, almost like they were trying to devour each other. All those years of pining and pent up longing lead to this. It was freeing. A wonderful feeling that stayed around his heart and glowed with warmth. It was perfect. He couldn’t stress that enough. Alexander tasted unbelievably good, better than he could have imagined. Mostly like coffee, sure, but there was something else there that was addictive. His beard pricked his face, and it made John scrunch up his nose for a second, but he smiled into the other’s mouth either way. He was so happy. There was literally nothing that could ruin this. 

Hamilton pulled away, Laurens following his lips without thinking. John opened his eyes just a little, his heart pounding in his ears and his face hot, more breathless than before, a little dazed with probably swollen lips. He stared into those beautiful eyes as they focused on his lips. He tried to look away, flustered as he was and his brain short circuiting, only for the bastard above him to run his thumb over his bottom lip and break him completely. A dopey smile broke out on his face, and Hamilton mirrored it as he moved his gaze to the other’s eyes. John noticed how flushed his face was, too, and noted that he wanted to look at that blush forever. 

Hamilton leaned closer and let their foreheads touch before closing his eyes, “Happy new year, Jacky.” He mumbled.

It gave him goosebumps for no good reason, “Happy new year, Alex.” 

After a few seconds of silence, John spoke up again, delighted and relishing in the fuzzy feeling in his body, “You have no idea how long I’ve wanted to do that.”

“Tell me about it.” He opened his eyes again and backed up a bit, which made John realize his hand was still in Alexander’s hair, so he did the logical thing and began to scratch his head. Hamilton’s smile grew and he ran his thumb over Laurens’ cheek, only to start peppering kisses all over his face.

Giggles spilled out of John’s mouth as his grin widened with every little smooch. “What are you doing?” He asked, blissful.

“What I’ve been wanting to do ever since I saw your adorable face for the first time.” He said before going right back to work. That was a long time. He couldn’t believe they’d been pining for each other for this long. They were so stupid. “You have no idea how hard it was for me to resist your stupid beautiful freckles for this many years.”

“And you have no idea how hard it was for me not to tell your dumb ass how much I love you.” John admitted, completely nonchalant even though his heart might just burst out and start dancing.

Hamilton froze for a second, then began to laugh with his lips pressed to the other’s face, “I love you, too, dear Laurens.” 

John felt like he could fly. And the fact that Alexander was currently kissing his way from his jaw and down his neck fortified that belief. It felt intoxicating to have the man kiss every piece of skin he could find on John as if he couldn’t get enough. Laurens could have purred. They both knew it wouldn’t get too heated, they were in a hospital after all, this was just Hamilton establishing what he could and couldn’t do, pushing boundaries as he always did immediately. Typical Alexander. John sighed, content with every fibre of his being. 

Eventually, Alexander settled back down into his chair, although it was pushed further up to be closer to the other man. His head rested on John’s side, one arm wrapped around his waist and the other tangled with John’s so they could have their fingers intertwined. Laurens looked at their hands together, at how well they fit in each other’s hold. It really was like they were made for each other, he thought, his heart swelling in his chest. This felt right.

Then, he felt Alexander plant a tender kiss to the back of his hand. In his blissful state, it prompted him to muse “I could get used to this.”

Hamilton chuckled, as content as John was and amused, “Mm, yeah?” He teased.

John Laurens’ first New Year’s in New York city didn’t go anywhere close to as he had planned it, but he wouldn’t change it for the world. 

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you so much for reading! Kudos and comments are greatly appreciated! If you wanna come scream at me on Tumblr, you can find me @oddlyterrifyingsquiggle <3


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